The True Heir of Slytherin
by LupusIgnis
Summary: It is the first week of fifth year for Harry Potter and he is already tired of everyone. The other two in the trio don't understand him, Dumbledore avoids him, the world shuns him, and Umbridge tortures him. Saturday, Harry spends almost all day in the library, wasting his time away when he finds a book that only a select few can read. See where it takes him.
1. Being Pissed Off Can Be Good For You

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character's objects or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling's **_**Harry Potter**_** series.**

**Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.**

_**The True Heir of Slytherin:**_

**Chapter 1**

Harry Potter had had enough. His whole life it was do this shit and deal with that shit. Every year of his life at Hogwarts, he had faced Voldemort, and almost nobody helped him. Sure, Hermione was there to help him get to Quirrel in first year, but she wasn't actually with him. Dumbledore, the greatest wizard in the world, had never helped him once. Even in third year, no one was there to help him face off the dementors. He had saved his past self and Sirius at the same time. Did Hermione even believe he could do it? Fuck no!

Now, Umbitch was here and making his life hell, Dumbledore was avoiding him as if he was death itself, and the entire wizarding world thought he was an attention seeking fraud. A year ago, no one could stop pestering him with their fan mail, and now people only sent him hate mail. Yet, he _had_ faced Voldemort and barely escaped with his life.

During the tournament, Ron had thought he had put his name in the cup to do what people were accusing him of then and now: seeking attention, and he had shunned him. Because of Ron, Hermione had evaded him too. His only friends were Neville, Seamus, and Dean. Even then, Seamus needed some convincing last year.

"I guess they are my only true friends. If I hung out with them more, I guess that they'd seem like better friends." Harry thought out loud.

"Shh!" Madam Pince hissed.

"Fuck off." Harry whispered so quietly that the librarian couldn't hear. "Sorry." Harry then said loud enough for her to hear.

Harry right now was in the library. It was Saturday night, and Harry didn't have detention with Umbridge. Normally, this would seem odd, but Harry wasn't acting normally. After his detention the night before, Harry had alienated Ron and Hermione. Hermione had still been trying to persuade him to go to Dumbledore, but she didn't understand. Dumbledore would never even let him into his office; he was shunning him like many others had before him, like many others were doing now. Ron, on the other hand, might understand, but if he did, he understood too well. He just discarded everything he said and complained about his experiences… like usual.

Now, Harry was in the library researching spells. He had been browsing section by section all day, occupying his time. While looking over one section, he had found an interesting book about some very interesting spells.

The book was titled: _Extraordinarily Powerful Spells and How to Cast Them_ and was written by none other than Salazar Slytherin. After seeing the author's name, Harry understood that the book was in parseltongue and that that was why it was in the miscellaneous section, not the restricted one. Harry had guessed Madam Pince didn't know of the risk of keeping the book open to everyone.

After reading a few pages, Harry had realized there was great danger in the wrong person learning these spells. That is when Harry had realized how Voldemort was so strong.

Harry had read that every spell in the book could be cast silently thanks to a note in the preface of the novel. All he had to do was think the words.

Harry had been reading the book almost all day and had skipped lunch to keep looking at the incantations. Many of these incantations in the book were rituals and wards as well as spells.

Shortly after finishing the book, Harry had exited the castle to practice them. He had walked all the around the lake to end up at the other side of the huge expanse of water to achieve some privacy.

First, he performed the wards on himself to boost his protection. Then he performed each of the easy rituals.

During one of these, the one that unlocks a person's true potential, Harry had felt as if he were being torn in two, but afterwards he was so much better. He didn't even need his glasses. Instead of throwing them away though, he decided to knock out the lenses and replace them with regular pieces of glass.

Before practicing the spells, however, Harry was stopped by a girl in his year.

"What do you want, Greengrass?" Harry asked snidely as he sensed her presence by the trees.

"I was… observing." Daphne replied mysteriously.

"And what would you happen to be observing?" Harry asked.

"The Gryffindor Golden Boy realizing just who is… the true heir of Slytherin." Daphne responded coolly.

Harry quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Oh come off it! Is it so hard to believe? You are much stronger than any of your peers and are able to read that book. Plus, I know you better than you." Daphne said the last sentence mischievously.

"How?" Harry asked curiously.

"My family was entrusted with all of Salazar's secrets before Godric killed him. The thing is, Salazar had a son. He was adopted by one of Godric's close friends. Their family name was Potter. My ancestors tracked the boy and his descendants to ensure that we could always tell who was Salazar's heir." Daphne explained.

"What about Voldemort?" Harry asked.

"During Riddle's years at Hogwarts, he became obsessed with his house's founder. Eventually, he became so obsessed that he became delusional. His chief delusion was that he was the heir of Slytherin. It is true that he can speak parseltongue, but his family never descended from Slytherin in any regard." Daphne replied.

"So why are you telling all this now? Why not in first or second year?" Harry asked.

"In first year, you were very adamant to be put into Gryffindor if I had to guess. I think that is because of what Weasly told you. As for second year, you came very close to believing it, but I could tell that you never crossed the line into true belief. I am now telling you all this because I saw that you were ignoring your friends and were more hostile towards everyone even if they couldn't tell. When I saw you in the library, I decided to take a chance and plant that book you found. When I saw that you could understand the book and that you were reading intently, I knew that you had finally crossed over from the light. I know the spells that are in that book; I've used them on idiotic suitors enough." Daphne saw Harry's mouth beginning to open. "And before you ask the obvious, yes. I am a parseltongue. Salazar granted all of my family this gift in return for us keeping his secrets and watching his descendants."

"Why did they accept only an ability for responsibility?" Harry asked. "Why didn't they ask for something else as well?"

"Salazar and my family were very good friends at that time. They knew that to keep their greatest friend alive that they would have to sacrifice some things, but they were willing to accept." Daphne answered.

"So what now?" Harry asked. For some reason, he believed everything she said. It was like his blood and magic knew the truth.

"For now, we keep this a secret from everyone. Meanwhile, I will help you practice and perfect each of your craft." Daphne replied.

"What do you mean, each of my craft?" Harry asked.

"As Salazar's last descendant, it should be fairly obvious that you have more than the ability to speak Parseltongue. You have the ability to do so much more than that fucking fake heir and Dumbledore can even imagine. We will unveil each of these abilities in time. For now, though, keep training, keep learning, and when the time comes, you will lead an army that will change all of the wizarding world forever." Daphne responded.

Harry nodded. "I will comply."

"As much as you must appear normal, never comply again without some difficulty unless that is what you truly believe. You are my leader. I am just your teacher… for now." Daphne said the first sentence almost angrily.

"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked curiously at her last statement.

Daphne walked up to Harry and hissed quietly and seductively in his ear in parseltongue, _"Let's just say you have unlocked an ancient contract between our families that doesn't just cover me helping you."_

Harry swallowed hard and nodded.

Daphne backed away and said, "Five minutes after I leave, go up into the Great Hall. It's almost dinner time."

Harry nodded and asked, "I will see you tomorrow then? Same time and place?"

Daphne grinned and said, "I will see you then, milord." She then quickly turned away and shot away in a shadow of black.

Harry waited the allotted time and then ran quickly toward the castle and a new future.

**AN: I hope you enjoyed this. I am not certain as of yet if it will become a full-fledged story, but if I get enough reviews convincing me to, I will write some more chapters. This doesn't mean that I will not be continuing **_**The Grey Assassins.**_** I am going to try and do both of these stories despite the challenge. I will let everyone know, though, that I still need a beta for **_**Grey Assassins**_**. As always, please review. _Occidere_ _Prima Vel Occidi._**


	2. The Third Opening

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, objects, or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling's **_**Harry Potter**_** series.**

**Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.**

"Regular speech or Spell"

_"Parseltongue"_

_Text_

'Thought'

**_The True Heir of Slytherin_**

**Chapter 2**

"Ugh. I hate that man, I do. He is a bloody pain in my arse. Why do we have to even take potions? It's not like I'm ever going to use it." Ron ranted on as they proceeded down the hall from the potions classroom. It had been two days since Harry had lost his patience with the world and had been shown the truth: he was Salazar Slytherin's true heir. The day before he had met with Daphne, where she had informed him there was no going back now. She had quickly left, a minute after entering.

"Oh my god, Ron." Hermione replied.

Before Ron could come up with a witty retort, the Golden Trio bumped into a blonde Slytherin.

"Oh, if it isn't the Greedy Golden Gryffindor Trio. Rush recklessly into any situations lately?" Daphne Greengrass greeted coldly after turning around.

As Ron started ranting about how horrible all Slytherins were, how they were all Death Eaters, and how the light would prevail, Daphne and Harry ignored the boy. Harry slightly tilted his eyebrow to ask, "What is this about?" She merely tapped her right robe pocket. She didn't worry about this motion being detected because Hermione was looking for Daphne's reaction on the blonde girl's face and Ron was enveloped in his rant. Harry, though, caught the motion and understood: check his right robe pocket for… something. He didn't know exactly what it was from her vague indication.

"Whatever, Weasley." Daphne scoffed. "Just watch where you step or else watch out when you sleep, because if you don't I will make sure that you go to sleep with nightmares and wake up into an even worse nightmare." Daphne threatened before turning and walking back to her friends.

"How could they allow someone like her in school?" Ron asked. "She is clearly going to become a Death Eater if she isn't already."

"You don't know that; Dumbledore could still persuade Slytherins like her to choose the right side." Hermione replied.

"Hermione, Dumbledore can't do shit." Harry replied.

"How can you say that, Harry? Dumbledore is the greatest wizard in the world. He'll protect us from You-Know-Who." Hermione gasped.

"Sorry if I don't have confidence in a man who has been ignoring me all year and who is rarely there when I need him." Harry replied.

"Are you okay, mate? You haven't been yourself lately." Ron asked.

"I'm fine, let's just get to Binns's class." Harry replied before starting to walk quickly down the hall. The other two hurried to catch up. When they arrived, Harry automatically went to the back and sat in the middle seat, forcing Ron and Hermione to be on his left and right respectively. When Binns had started talking, Ron went to sleep and Hermione paid full attention to the poltergeist, just like Harry had predicted. Harry then discreetly reached into his right robe pocket. He looked up to see if Hermione had noticed his actions thus far. Her focus was still glued to the front of the classroom.

Harry then removed the note and set it down onto the open page of his textbook. Harry quickly scanned the message. It read:

_Meet me tonight at nine in the chamber that only we can access with our secret language. I'll arrive five minutes after nine, but you should arrive at nine. Keep this note hidden until we meet._

_~D. G._

After he finished reading it, Harry took out his quill and bottle of ink and scratched out the words she had written down. Although she had been very vague with rare knowledge, Daphne had advised him to do this to any note she writes him. Once satisfied, Harry crumpled up the paper and returned it to his right robe pocket. The rest of the day proceeded like last week, dragging ass, but Harry's day was brightened by the fact that he would be meeting Daphne later. He was enthusiastic to learn his true family's secrets. All during dinner, he had to resist the urge to look at his watch every five seconds or to even risk a glance at Daphne. After dinner, though, everyone proceeded to their common rooms and later, the dormitories.

Harry waited to hear the Ron's snore before getting out of bed. The others, he knew, had already learned to fall asleep before the loud dreamer or else stay awake for the whole night. Also, Harry thought Ron's snoring would mask the noise of his movements. He quickly put on his pair of black slacks from last year, a white long sleeve button down, his black sports coat from last year, and his black shoes. Daphne had told him to try to start dressing better when not with his friends. She had specifically said, "A pureblood heir of your status should not be walking around in the clothes you normally wear, but we can't afford to arouse any suspicion. Keep wearing those rags for now, but I don't want to see them anywhere near you when we meet."

After he dressed and secured his wand in his right front pocket and the Marauders' Map in his left front pocket, Harry put on his invisibility cloak and went down to the common room. Thankfully, no one was in the room, so Harry left out of the Fat Lady's Portrait and proceeded down to the second-floor girls' lavatory, Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Harry quickly slipped into the room and scanned it to see if the ghost was there. Luck seemed to be on Harry's side, so he went up to the sink he had visited less than three years ago.

"_Open up!"_ Harry hissed. The sinks then started moving forward, away from the center, and stopped after a few meters. They then retracted into the floor, and metal grates covered the separated sinks. There was now a giant hole in the floor.

"Here I go again." Harry stated before jumping down into the slippery pipe. After a minute, the pipe dumped Harry into the pile of broken bones. Harry stood up and walked away from the huge pile before cleaning himself off. He then kept walking.

"Ugh. I forgot about that." Harry said as he saw the huge pile of boulders that had been caused by Lockhart's selfishness and stupidity. There was a small hole at the top the obstacle Harry had used a few years ago, but he knew that he couldn't slip through it now. He thought for a moment before removing his wand. He aimed it to the right of the hole.

"Reducto!" Harry shouted. The spell impacted the side of the wall and broke off part of it. The hole was now wide enough that Harry could crawl through.

"What would I do without magic?" Harry smiled before returning his wand to his pocket and crawling on his belly through the hole. It was a bit of a tight fit, but Harry managed. He then walked through the cavern and up to the door after brushing off the dust from the rocks. Just as he remembered it, the door was a round metal portal with many locks.

"_Open." _Harry hissed. The two snakes appeared and disengaged the locks, allowing the door to open. Harry walked through and found himself back in the Chamber of Secrets.

"What in the name of Merlin?" Harry asked as he saw, or didn't see to be more accurate, the basilisk he had thought he had killed in his second year.

"What is wrong, Harry?" Daphne asked as she came out of one of the tunnels.

"How'd you…?" Harry asked at where she came from.

"I used the entrance of course. How did you get down here?" Daphne asked curiously.

"I used the sinks." Harry replied almost dumbly.

"That was meant for Salazar's pet, not people, Harry. No wonder why you look so filthy." Daphne responded.

"There's an entrance for people?" Harry asked, eyes wide, before absorbing her second sentence. He looked down at his clothes and saw that trying to wipe everything off had done nothing but make everything worse.

"Uh, could you…?" Harry asked indicating his clothes. He had never learned the spell.

Daphne shook her head before silently casting a spell that cleaned Harry's clothes.

"Thanks."

"You have a lot to learn." Daphne sighed in response.

"So, where is this other entrance?" Harry asked, trying to change the subject.

"Through that tunnel. I'll show you it when we leave." Daphne replied.

"I appreciate it." Harry said. "So, where is the basilisk? I thought I killed it second year."

"How did you 'kill it?'" Daphne asked.

"I shoved Godric Gryffindor's sword through the roof of its mouth. After I removed it, the beast lifted up, thrashing and then fell down onto the floor." Harry answered.

"It would take more than that to kill a basilisk, especially as old as the one that rests here. All you did was wound it, albeit pretty badly. If I hadn't seen you enter the chamber and followed you, he probably would have died, but I nursed him back to full health." Daphne explained.

"Why didn't you help me then?" Harry asked, slightly angered.

"When Riddle summoned the basilisk, he somehow managed to control it very well. While you were fighting it, I was trying to calm him down and make him realize just who he was attacking, his real master. I would've done more, but my spells at the time weren't as strong or developed to do anything against him." Daphne replied. "Now, though, everything has changed. Let's start with summoning your greatest serpent."

"That's how we're going to start? No spell casting or learning about my family's past?" Harry asked, dumbstruck.

"No one knew Salazar better than his pet. While my family held his memoirs, journals, and one of his many spell books, Deus knew Salazar better." Daphne responded.

"The basilisk's name is Deus then, I take it?" Harry asked.

"Yes. Now summon him." Daphne said sweeping her arm towards Salazar's head.

Harry looked at it uncertainly and just stood there.

"You don't know how to summon it do you?" Daphne sighed.

"I'm afraid not." Harry admitted sheepishly.

"Just say 'come to me, beast and symbol of all Slytherins. Your former master's heir summons you' in Parseltongue." Daphne explained.

"All right." Harry nodded before thinking of a snake.

"_Come to me, beast and symbol of all Slytherins! Your former master's heir summons you!" _Harry called.

As before, Salazar's mouth opened, and the basilisk slithered out. Unlike before, though, Harry was calm, and the creature slithered over to him obediently.

"_If you are Salazar's heir, prove yourself." _Deus said forcefully.

"_I can testify for him, Deus, and you know that my family watched Salazar's line closely. He is his heir even if we have not gotten him checked out by the goblins at Gringotts." _Daphne replied.

"_Very well, but you know the test he must take to prove himself." _Deus responded.

"_What is this test?" _Harry asked. Deus looked at Harry and finally recognized him.

"_You are the one that wounded me over two years ago! You were the one that Riddle forced me to attack! Daphne has told me much about you." _Deus said, a sliver of anger was in his voice at the beginning but it slowly dissipated as he calmed.

"_I am sorry for hurting you so, but as you said, you were hell bent on killing me." _Harry replied.

"_Well said." _Deus responded.

"_So as I asked before, what is this test?" _Harry asked.

Deus nodded his head over to a basin that was rising from the floor. _"Pour some of your blood into that basin, and if you are the heir, something will happen that will show you who you truly are."_

Harry nodded before asking, _"How am I to break my skin to pour my blood into the basin?"_

"_Do not be concerned about what I am about to do. Your body has probably grown to be used to the presence of my venom. A new amount won't do anything." _Deus warned before he struck out and used one of his top fangs to lightly bite Harry's right arm. The force of the bite was strong enough to break skin but not enough to damage anything but the capillaries in the skin. While Deus was conversing, with Harry, Daphne had pushed Harry's sleeves up to reveal most of his forearm with a wave of her wand. Black venom and red blood poured out from the wound as Deus removed himself from Harry's arm.

Harry grabbed his arm and screamed in pain. "You just killed me!"

Deus looked at him curiously. Daphne whispered something to him.

"Could you please speak Parseltongue? Deus can't understand you." Daphne asked nonchalantly.

"Why does it matter? I'm as good as dead! Is this what you call loyalty? Because I'm pretty sure that poisoning me is not in my best interest!" Harry shouted.

"Please call down, and to address you being poisoned, you were not. Remember what Deus told you before he bit you?" Daphne replied, still nonchalant.

Harry thought for a moment before the basilisk's words were absorbed. He then examined the wound to notice that while the venom was aplenty, it didn't appear to be causing any adverse effects like burning his skin. He then thought for another moment to find that he felt no different than before except that there was a slight pain where the fang had connected with the skin.

"_Would you please go up to the basin now?" _Deus asked politely.

"_Yeah. Sorry about the screaming. I wasn't thinking about what you said." _Harry said before walking up to the basin and squeezing his arm right by the puncture to draw some more blood. After a few moments, the basin was full and the steady stream of blood halted, and the hole in Harry's arm was healed. Daphne quickly cleaned his arm off with another wave of her wand.

"Thanks." Harry said absent-mindedly. He was not trying to be rude, but he was focused on the basin. The color of the liquid was primarily a blackish purple that overtook the red color of Harry's blood. Slowly, the inside of the basin started spinning but its speed steadily increased exponentially. Finally, the basin stopped and drained itself of the venom/blood. As the basin drained, the chamber did as well. After two minutes, the entire chamber was devoid of any water. This revealed that the three beings were resting on the roof of one of many buildings in the underground compound. The lack of water also revealed Salazar's entire body, not just his head. The compound stretched five levels down and each got bigger towards the base, which was the largest. Stairs on the sides of the walkway they were on allowed them to reach any of the other levels.

"_Oh. This is getting good." _Harry grinned.

**AN: I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I would have had this out earlier, but I was trying to get the latest chapter of **_**The Grey Assassins**_ **done and it is slow going since I have been drained from work and such as I type/write at night. If anyone hasn't noticed, I have fixed last chapter to make more sense. I had not intended at first to have this be multiple chapter, so I had not been worried about the specifics. Just thought everyone would like to know. As always, reviews are always VERY appreciated and I hope that you'll continue reading. **_**Occidere Prima Vel Occidi.**_


	3. Revelations

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, objects, or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling's **_**Harry Potter**_** series.**

**Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.**

"Regular speech or Spell"

"Parseltongue"Text

'Thought'

_**The True Heir of Slytherin**_

**Chapter 3**

"_Dissiliunt!" _Harry cast before causing the dummy in front of him to explode into an uncountable amount of pieces.

It had been a week since Harry had discovered the true Chamber of Secrets, and now, he spent every night and most of the weekend there, training hard for his new life.

"Well performed. You have improved." Daphne congratulated. "Now, cast it silently."

Harry nodded before using a swish of his wand to summon a new dummy to replace the last. Harry looked at it fiercely before pointing his wand at the target. A second later, a spell rocketed out of Harry's wand with a color that resembled fire. When the spell impacted the dummy, an explosion resonated from the point where it first touched the object.

"Now without a wand." Daphne ordered.

"Silent or not?" Harry asked.

"If you can manage this without a wand, your next spell will be silent." Daphne replied.

Harry nodded as he tucked away his wand in his front pocket. He then summoned another dummy silently without a wand. As soon as it arrived, Harry shouted, _"Dissiliunt" _as he shoved his hand towards the dummy. A lighter explosion compared to before was the result. Harry shook his head before summoning yet another dummy. He could and had to do better. Harry calmed himself before shoving his open palm towards the dummy as he cast the incantation once more.

This time the explosion didn't even let a single piece of the dummy remain. All of it was disintegrated in the blast.

Harry smiled as he turned towards Daphne. "Silently now?"

Daphne gave Harry one of her rare smiles and nodded. "I think you are ready for it."

Harry summoned one last dummy without even taking a glance away from Daphne. When it arrived, Harry quickly spun around and shoved his open palm out once more, but this time, though, he kept his mouth closed. In an instant, the spell traveled across the distance between Harry and the dummy before there was nothing to note the presence of any object at the dummy's former location. Thanks to the magic of the Chamber of Secrets, there would never be a permanent mark on any surface so as not to let the chamber deteriorate, and the spell obliterated every piece of the dummy.

"Anything else for tonight that we can accomplish?" Harry asked after he banished away the remnants of the other dummies. His wand was still in his pocket, and his lips had not moved.

"That is all I had planned for tonight. Though, we can talk for a bit, asking each other questions." Daphne replied.

Harry looked at Daphne in disbelief. "Really?" Despite his question, Daphne began walking out of the training room. Harry sighed but followed close behind her.

"Between me teaching you and your training, we have never talked in earnest besides when we first met." Daphne finally explained as she led the other teen into the chamber's library.

The library was a small room with shelves lining the walls, excluding the wall that held the doorway allowing access in and out of the room. When entered, a person would notice that the room seemed smaller due to the fact that bookshelves filled half of the library. The front half was a sitting and reading area.

"So, what would you like to ask me?" Daphne sat down on one of the chairs with a pillow. It was positioned without a table. Harry sat down at the one opposite to it.

"How long do you think this training will take? I don't exactly like how everyone is making my life hell, so it would be nice to know when I can turn the tables on them." Harry asked, allowing a lit annoyance to slip into his voice.

Daphne nodded. "That's fair. I expect that you should be ready by the end of the year. Now, allow me to ask you a question."

"I take it then that we are trading information?" Harry asked, trying to adopt a more appropriate form of speech suited to his status. Daphne nodded. "Ask away."

"Who raised you before Hogwarts but after that night?"

Harry sighed deeply. "Have you ever heard of a muggle family called the Dursleys?"

"No, I have not."

Harry sighed even deeper than before. "My mother's sister was a muggle and hated magic because of my mother. She married another muggle and shared her hate with him. Later, they would have a son that would be a miniature version of that fat ass. When I was orphaned, Dumbledore had me rescued and delivered to that despicable family." Harry grew angrier as he spoke before let out a slow breath and spoke again. "My turn. Why do you act as the Slytherin Ice Queen?"

"To stop everyone's advances, of course. I know that all of the boys fancy me in a shallow way, so I use a cold front to freeze them in their tracks." Daphne replied nonchalantly.

"Not quite what I meant."

"What do you mean then?" Daphne asked curiously.

Harry smiled. "You just gave up your turn."

"Asshole!" Daphne yelled before realizing how well Harry was learning and calmed down. "Well played. You still have to answer, though."

Harry bowed his head mockingly. "Of course." Harry straightened himself in his chair. "It is very easy to follow your answer, but I'm asking you _why _you have to be the Slytherin Ice Queen. Why not use us boys to get what you want and throw us away when you are done? Most girls in your position would."

"Ah." Daphne said before she sighed. "I was hoping to not have to tell you this for at least a bit longer, but I suppose the time is here." Harry paid close attention. "Part of the deal for taking care of the Slytherin line was that the eldest unmarried daughter of my family, when the heir discovered his ancestry, would marry said heir. It was another gift Salazar gave my family, and ensured the continuation of the Slytherin line further."

"It could be viewed as a curse. Not being able to marry who you wish." Harry replied sympathetically.

"I grew used to it. That is why I cannot let anyone else past my defenses. My parents made me a deal that if you didn't find out by the end of your Hogwarts career that I could start dating." Daphne responded. "Until then I was to be the Ice Queen everyone knows so well."

Harry nodded. "Your turn."

"I take it from your description of your family that you did not like them in any way. How so?" Daphne asked.

"All of the Dursleys abusing me occurred more than often in that household." Harry spat out, but the ball was just starting to roll. "Vernon beat me senseless most days, Petunia helped starve me, Dudley and his gang whaled on me at and on the way to school, and all of them forced me to do almost all of the work besides Vernon's at his job. On top of that, never was I shown a smidgen of caring or love! That's why I despise them!" Harry ended roughly.

"I'm… I'm sorry. If I had known, I wouldn't have asked." Daphne said, seeing how much pain Harry held on his face and letting her icy persona be warmed slightly.

"Not your fault. You didn't know." Harry replied quietly.

"So… it's your turn." Daphne decided to change the subject.

"Okay. How do you feel about us getting married?" Harry asked.

"Like I said, I have always known what would happen when you discovered that you were the last descendant of the Slytherin line. I have grown comfortable with it after so long. Besides, if I had any problems with it, why would I reveal all of this to you?" Daphne said.

Harry thought a moment. "You have a valid point there, but you know that is not what I meant… How do you feel about us… being a couple?"

Daphne sat in silence for a few moments. "Before, I would have said that this could be one of the worst things that could happen. You were always breaking rules and basing all of your decisions on what your friends said and believed. Take Slytherins as an example. Because of what Weasley always says about us, it is no wonder that you developed the same prejudice and clouded thinking. Sure, we are deceptive and maybe too ambitious, but that is part of what we are as Slytherins. Just because we do all we can to achieve what we want such as trick a few people does not mean all of us are evil, especially Salazar. Nobody really knows what happened between the Founders except my family, and even then, we do not know all of or even most of the stories." Daphne grew more passionate as she spoke.

"Sorry 'bout that." Harry apologized shyly.

Daphne nodded. "Thank you."

"So how do you feel about me now that I have discarded my misconceptions and opened my eyes to view the world in a more open way?" Harry asked.

Daphne discarded their current process and decided to answer Harry's question. "I… don't exactly know yet. It is great that you are starting to stand up for yourself despite what others think or want, and that is only one of many qualities that you have going for you… but…" Daphne drifted off.

"But, you still don't know me that well to know if this is just a front." Harry finished grimly.

"You had it half right. I just don't know you well enough. You can only know a person by going through a broad range of experiences." Daphne corrected.

"That's fair I guess." Harry replied. "Your turn. You get two turns for putting up with me."

"Thanks." Daphne smiled. 'He's at least a gentlemen.' "How about the rumors about all of your adventures here at Hogwarts?"

"That depends. What are the rumors, which years, and what exactly do you want to know?" Harry replied.

"Those are three questions. Don't try tricking me." Daphne tested to see Harry's reaction.

"No tricks." Harry defended as he put his palms in the air facing her. "I just don't know what is going around with those kinds of things."

Daphne nodded, not letting any emotion show despite her happiness at how he handled himself. "First year: you beat our teachers' obstacles to reach the philosopher's stone? Fourth year: you faced Voldemort and won?" Daphne already knew of the events of second year because of her closeness to Deus while only those involved knew anything about the events of third year. Because only these few knew, no rumors had been able to spread with nothing to rumor about.

"Yes to first year. Hagrid, Sprout, Flitwick, McGonagall, Quirrel, Snape, and Dumbledore in order each set up their own trap to block it. I thought Snape was after it, so I tried getting it first. It turned out to be Voldemort hiding underneath Quirrel's turban. Somehow when I touched Quirrel, he turned to ash, dust, or something of the like. No to fourth year, though. I did face Voldemort but barely escaped with my life thanks to my parents somehow appearing and giving me a few seconds to get to the portkey, the Triwizard Cup. Before you ask how I got entered in the tournament, Barty Crouch Jr., disguised as Moody, put it in so that I could make it to the Cup. It took Cedric and I to the Riddle Manor graveyard where Voldemort used my blood to revive himself. You can get the rest." Harry explained, trying to keep it as short and informative as he could.

"Is that all?" Daphne asked curiously.

"Yeah."

"The rumor mill definitely is spitting out all of the wrong things." Daphne commented wondrously.

"How so?"

"Your adventures, while still extraordinary, are much more believable than the rumors going around." Daphne replied. "My turn again." Harry looked at her curiously. "You asked me a question."

Harry silently scolded himself. He was supposed to do better. After he finished his mental berating, Harry motioned for Daphne to speak.

"Have you given any thought on who you want as allies when you reveal to everyone your ancestor?" Daphne drew the conversation more towards business.

"Yes." Harry smiled. She had to wait another turn to find out whom he wished to recruit. "After I reveal my lordship, what are we going to do?"

"We will have to beat back any protests against us, be them violently or not so. I imagine we would have to create our own side against Voldemort." Daphne replied. "Now, who do you believe would be good allies for youus?"

"Here at school?" Harry asked curiously.

"That's a question."

"To define your question." Harry replied wittingly.

"Yes."

"After your speech a few minutes ago, I would need your help with the Slytherins. I do not know any of them well enough to judge at the moment, but I think that most of them will leave me be as the true heir of Slytherin. I would need you to tell me who would join me not just because of my status." Harry paused to see Daphne's reaction. She nodded her understanding and for him to continue. "In Gryffindor, I am done with Hermione and Ron. Ron betrayed me last year, and I now realize that he has always cared more about himself at all times. Plus, he hates Slytherins no matter what, as you know so well. Then Hermione, she fancies Ron, so she'll stick by him. Neville, Seamus, and Dean, though, I think will be good to me after a quick chat. I would have to know more about Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff to make any other decisions."

"You have a good way to go, but I believe that you have made a fairly good start. I'll talk with people in Slytherin to see who would be good, but you will handle the Hufflepuffs." Daphne said.

"What about the Ravenclaws?" Harry asked.

"You gave up your turn." Daphne smiled. Harry scolded himself once more.

"So?" Harry moved on.

"I'll do a rough examination of them, but you run them by Luna before approaching them." Daphne replied. "Now, how about we go back to being personal?" Daphne purposefully forfeited her turn to learn more about her future husband.

"Sure, but I need to know what years to look through for the houses." Harry said.

"Just our year." She knew that he had not asked a question, so she did not ask hers.

Before Harry could begin to speak, though, a bell toll rang throughout the compound.

"I guess our time is up, huh?" Harry sighed.

"Afraid so, but I'll meet with you tomorrow after dinner." Daphne said as she and Harry rose from their seats.

Harry took Daphne's left hand in his right before giving the top a light kiss, showing his growing understanding of pureblood culture. He then looked up at his future wife and current mentor. "Until then, Daphne, have a splendid evening and a well tomorrow."

Daphne withdrew her hand. "I wish the same for you as well… milord."

Harry's brows furrowed together and a slight blush appeared on his cheeks. "No matter what happens, Daphne, please never feel obligated to call me your lord ever again. Harry is just fine."

"All right." Daphne nodded before disappearing as a shadow, leaving behind a cold atmosphere. It would not do for the two of them to be seen together at any interval of time.

Harry quickly ran out into the hall before continuing to the stairs, where he quickly climbed to the always-visible part of the compound. He then went into the staircase along one wall of one of the bigger pipes that crossed the compound. This had him emerge in the hallway outside of Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom. A second after he was clear of the stairwell, the panel of bricks swung back into place. Quickly, he proceeded over to the Great Hall, so as not to rouse any suspicions from his friends. Despite the slight torture it brought him to be by such despicable creatures, he still had to keep up the recently false pretenses. A short look around the hall when he arrived at the giant, open doorway revealed Ron and Hermione, sitting in their usual spots at the table of lions.

As Harry walked over to the two, a thought could not help itself from crossing his growing mind: he was a snake among lions, a deceiver from his very first year even if he did not know it during that time. Harry Potter was a rogue in ways that the Ministry could not have easily predicted even with a prophet, and he was starting to fulfill this role better each day.

Before this thought could unfold further, Harry arrived at the Gryffindor table.

"Harry, mate, where have you been? You've been disappearing an awful lot lately." Ron asked after swallowing another dinosaur-sized bite. Hermione was absorbed in one of her textbooks.

'Finally, one of them at least asks. Who would have thought it would be Ron, though?' Harry thought before creating, elaborating, and finalizing an excuse within the span of a few seconds.

"Hanging around the quidditch pitch. It's been nice to just get away from everything for at least a bit." Harry replied.

Hermione finally had looked up from her reading and put her book away. "You really should stay focused on your work, Harry. I mean, honestly, how do you ever expect to pass your O.W.L.'s when you're on the quidditch pitch all the time?"

Harry barely held in all of the anger that threatened to overwhelm him. Despite his efforts, however, more than a slip of rage leaked into Harry's voice. "Hermione, do you have the entire wizarding world against you? Because almost everyone seems to make me aware of the fact that I do, so sorry for wanting to take a few minutes of rest."

"Oh, come off it, Harry! You have Ron, Dumbledore, the Order, and me!" Hermione quickly retorted. She had thankfully kept her voice at a low volume so as not to attract any attention from the other students and the teachers.

"Yeah, big help they are! I didn't know of the Order until a few weeks ago when this is my fight against Voldemort, Dumbledore avoids me, and you just tell me to go to the man!" Harry grew angrier as the two of them spoke. Never before had the two of them fought before. Never before had Harry argued with someone he knew so well like this, but times were changing.

"And what about me, mate?" A quiet voice spoke.

Harry turned to look at Ron, who sat to his left. "You could care less about any of my troubles because you're too concerned about yourself when you're not even taking half of the heat! Plus, you always seem, to your big dismay, to be gone when I need you." Harry spat as sarcastically as he could. "Isn't it funny how that works out? You, safe away from the danger while I'm fighting off the creature or Voldemort!"

"How dare you! I've put my life on the line for you countless times, and this is how you repay me? Screw you; I'm leaving!" Ron replied. Still, their voices were not above whispers despite their words' raging nature.

"No, fuck you! Don't harm yourself getting up amongst the huge mound known as your food scraps! I'll leave, you git!" Harry growled before rising from his seat and walking out of the Great Hall, leaving behind two floored and simultaneously furious former friends.

Harry quickly navigated the halls of Hogwarts to end back up at the staircase to the Chamber of Secrets. With a final glance down both ends of the corridor, Harry hissed, _"Open."_ The panel of bricks didn't appear to have moved. Despite this, though, Harry seemed to walk through the wall, disappearing from the hallway. The illusion then broke as the panel of bricks closed. Harry proceeded down the staircase until he was deep into the underground complex. Ten minutes after leaving the Great Hall, Harry entered the compound's kitchen.

Daphne had informed him that she had updated the room so that it was not the medieval room it once was but a modern room fit for most informal occasions. Black granite counters lined the walls with pure white wooded cabinets supporting the rock and hanging above it. A stove and oven separated this line as well as a sink and fridge. The appliances were a dull silver. In the middle of the room, a black, wood table with four equally black chairs rested.

"Fucking ignorant pricks." Harry mumbled to himself as he removed the necessary ingredients to make London broil, a dish he had made often enough at the Dursleys to perfect. Twenty minutes later, Harry set the plate onto the table. After a quick trip to gather a knife, fork, plate, and a bottle of Coca-Cola, Harry finally sat down to eat his meal.

"Is there room for one more?"

Harry looked over to see Daphne still in her Hogwarts uniform in the door frame. "Sure. You eat dinner yet or do you want to share?"

Daphne gave a slight smile. "That sounds good. I did not have anything at the Great Hall." Harry gave her a curious look. Daphne, meanwhile, had traveled to the fridge and cabinet to retrieve the same utensils and drink as Harry had fetched. "I was too busy watching you give away some of your secrets." She explained as she sat down across from Harry.

Harry looked down at his empty plate. "I just couldn't take much more of it when they were questioning me. They just were so… selfish."

Daphne nodded. While beginning to serve Harry, she spoke again. "Don't worry. You were already growing away from them. This just gives you a better opportunity to ally yourself with the list."

"Why are you being so nice?"

Daphne finished serving herself. "I decided how I felt about you." Daphne smiled. "After talking with you, I realized the person you were, and now I feel rather fortunate to be betrothed to someone with such character as you."

Harry chuckled. "That's good to hear." The two then quietly began to eat. "So tell me a little more about yourself. This time how about we be a little bit more happy and personal?"

For the first time, Harry heard Daphne laugh. It was a little higher pitched than her normal voice but was surprisingly melodious to Harry's ears.

"Okay." She then began to describe her family and some of the best moments of her life before Hogwarts. When she was done, Harry told of some of the wonders he experienced when he was first introduced to the Wizarding world. After he finished talking, the two noticed their meal was finished and it was rather late, so they quickly cleaned the remnants of their meal up and departed from the room, felling better than either had in a long time. One departed as a shadow while the other had to hurry back up to his dormitory without being caught.

**AN: I hope everyone enjoyed my latest chapter. Sorry that it took so long but I am now going to try and write three stories at the same time, one after the other by chapter. I also have been imagining the sequel to the **_**Grey Assassins **_**vividly, which unfortunately occupied my imagination. Please remember to review. The more reviews my stories receive, the more inspired I am to write quickly to supply you with another chapter. **_**Occidere Prima Vel Occidi.**_


	4. Turning the Gryffindors

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, objects, or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling's **_**Harry Potter**_** series.**

**Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.**

"Regular speech or Spell" "Parseltongue"Text

'Thought'

The True Heir of SlytherinChapter 4

The next morning Harry woke up and headed downstairs under his invisibility cloak. Finally, he arrived at the painting that led to the kitchens. Quickly, he scratched the pear, making it squirm and laugh. Harry then turned the doorknob that appeared and entered the hidden room, making sure that the door was closed behind him.

"Hey, Dobby." Harry smiled as he took of his cloak and hid it in his pocket. "Thank you again for this."

"Dobby is always happy to help Harry Potter sirs." The house-elf replied as he popped in front of the fifteen year old with a golden plate topped with what seemed to be a granola bar and a couple of potions.

"All you need to say is 'you're welcome,' and nobody would mind." Harry said.

"But Harry Potter is the greatest wizard of all time, even more so than Dumbledore!" Dobby argued.

Harry just shook his head with a still ever-present smile on his face. "Whatever you say, my friend, whatever you say." Harry then downed each of the two nourishment potions, one after the other, slamming down the vials like alcohol shots except not upside down due to the cone shape of the vials.

"Ugh. Never going to get used to that." Harry grimaced once the two potions entered his stomach.

"Did Dobby do something wrong, Harry Potter sirs?" Dobby asked, concerned that he had hurt his hero in any way.

"No, Dobby." Harry assured. "Besides, I think the worse it tastes, the better it is for you when it comes to nourishment potions."

"Is Harry Potter sure?" Dobby asked.

Harry nodded before picking up the bar of food. Quickly he ate it in three bites. "That, on the other hand is delicious, Dobby. You don't make them like anyone else." Harry commended. "I still find it hard to believe that that entire thing contains an entire meal." Harry shook his head.

"I'll see you, Dobby, tomorrow. Have a good day." Harry then turned and started walking out of the kitchens.

"Good bye, Harry Potter!" Dobby shouted after the teen.

Harry chuckled after closing the door behind him. "I keep telling him to just call me Harry." The teen then adorned his invisibility cloak once more and proceeded back to the Chamber of Secrets.

"Hello, Daphne." Harry nodded as he entered the training room. The other teen was leaning against the wall to his right.

"Harry." She acknowledged. "Ready to train?"

Harry hesitated.

"What's wrong?" Daphne asked almost curiously.

"Could you answer a couple questions for me before we start?" Harry asked. Daphne nodded after a second of thought. "There is this house-elf… his name's Dobby, and he was the Malfoy's until three years ago."

Daphne raised an eyebrow.

"He was treated completely terribly, so I tricked Lucious into freeing him, and now, Dobby worships me for some reason despite me telling him not to."

"Is there a question in there yet, or are you just going to keep rambling?" Daphne asked.

"Sorry. What I want to ask is why can't he just let go and be a Hogwarts elf now that he has a job here? Why does he try to do whatever he can still after a few years?" Harry finally asked.

Daphne sighed. "I need to teach you more about our customs." Harry looked at his teacher, confused. "I'm going to need some people to help me." Daphne muttered to herself before turning back to Harry. "A house-elf requires a family to survive. Hogwarts does provide this, stopping them from dying, but they are much weaker than they would be with a magical family. They survive on the family's magic and in turn, they service their family. Dobby expects you to make him your elf since you helped free him."

"Oh." Harry said in a small voice. "So what should I do?"

"It's simple really. Unless you wish to have him suffer, you should employ him as your personal house-elf. Most people in your position would be happy to take on one as enthusiastic as him if you described him right, Harry." Daphne replied.

"Okay." Harry nodded. "I'll visit him after we finish up here."

"Good. Now can we get to work if it suits you?" Daphne asked slightly sarcastically.

"Sorry."

Daphne laughed. "I was just screwing with you."

Harry chuckled. "Now who's delaying training?"

Daphne rolled her eyes.

"So you have a new spell for me?" Harry asked, becoming serious again.

Daphne grinned. "Yes, but only one. It shouldn't take you long, and I have someone you should meet."

"Okay." Harry said slowly.

"This spell is one from that book you found at the start of all this." Daphne said as she removed her wand. Harry raised an eyebrow. "Watch."

Daphne turned to stare across the room. She then raised her wand forward. _"Pulsante basiliscum!"_

A basilisk quickly emerged from her wand and started quickly moving across the room, away from the teens. After a few seconds, it vanished into the air.

"Give you one guess at what it does." Daphne said, turning to Harry.

After learning the routine of casting the spell first regularly in parseltongue, then silently, wandlessly, and finally silently wandless, Daphne was convinced that the snake among lions could properly defend himself using one of his ancestors' ancient spells.

"Good, Harry. Now, let's go continue your lessons for the day. Just because you mastered one spell does not mean you are finished for the day." Daphne then began walking out of the training room. Harry quickly turned away from the six mutilated dummies and followed after his betrothed. A few seconds later, he caught up with her.

"Where we going?" Harry asked authoritatively but courteously, further showing off his acceptance of his heritage.

"The library. As I said earlier, there is someone that whose meeting has been too long postponed." Daphne replied.

Harry nodded his head. "All right."

The two continued down the passages of the Chamber of Secrets until they finally arrived back at the room that stored much of Salazar's ancient knowledge. Walking inside, Harry noticed a girl with fairly dark brown hair close to a chestnut color. Like her sister, Astoria Greengrass had a certain beauty about her, but she looked much warmer and younger than her older sister. To Harry, though, she couldn't really compare to the girl who had rewrote everything Harry had ever known.

Harry then began to realize that he did not mind so much the betrothal contract that had been instated than he had first thought. While he had begun to become comfortable with pureblood ways, Harry had had his reprehensions about the discovery the night before. This initial thought, though, was pushed to the side by his selfless one, the one more concerned about Daphne's reaction than its own. Old habits died hard.

"Hello, madam. Your sister has told me much about you. How do you do on this day, Astoria?" Harry asked, falling into his ever more real pureblood persona.

"Fine, milord. And yourself?" Astoria replied, already out of her chair.

"Well." Harry said simply.

"I see my sister has been trying to teach you our ways. Valiant effort, but it still lacks a certain quality you must develop." Astoria paused. "I am glad that I can provide some use to you."

Harry turned to see an annoyed Daphne behind him. Despite this, however, Harry still let slip a look of confusion for a second as a way to ask her the meaning to the youngest Greengrass's words.

"I will be teaching you spells and other magical skills you will need to survive against your future nemeses. The political arena can turn violent quickly. While it is not technically that way, there is a dark side to politics that involves activities that the average person would find… illegal." Daphne replied.

"A rough estimate, but accurate nonetheless. While my sister learned combat, I trained for the duel of words and minds. My sister might be clever in a fight, but she still does not pay too keen an eye to politics. She knows our customs and the rough tactics of the various games, but I will be able to help you learn the finesse of politics." Astoria added.

"Yeah, politics get much further in a fight than a good performance of spells." Daphne rolled her eyes.

"My guess is that you two quarrel over this often?" Harry asked, interrupting the two before they could progress any further in their feud.

The sisters glared at each other before giving Harry a quick, short nod.

"I'll leave you two to your lessons. I have some schoolwork to finish. I'll be in the school library." Daphne said before exiting the room.

The next two hours had Astoria giving Harry a course in manners to be had in front of different people and what the manners were. They started with learning the manners and then started at the lowest levels of society rising up to now covering the purebloods.

Harry had remained silent until after most of the lessons had taken place.

"I've begun to recently wonder, Astoria… am I still a Potter?" Harry asked.

The girl sat in thought for a few moments. "Yes. Although you do not have real Potter blood inside your veins, the Potters did agree to take in your ancestor, thus making him one of their own. This would allow you to be the head of house since your," Astoria paused for a moment to recollect how old the man was, "great-great-great-grandfather obtained the lordship when he was the only male alive in the family for a generation." Harry raised an eyebrow in question. "The other males fought and died in several separate battles. Medieval England often had violent disputes."

Harry nodded. "What title do I then have as the head? I don't know any family's status."

"The Potters would normally be classified as just an ancient house, but since the generation before the first Slytherin/Potter lord, the Potters gained the title of noble through their vast input into stopping dark lords, ladies, and other beings that threatened the light." Astoria replied. "Few others are ancient. One, of course, being the Greengrasses and any descendants of the founders… though no others are known. There are far more noble houses, however, despite them taking up only half of the families of the Wizengamot even tallied up with the ancient and ancient and noble houses. A house can be made noble through many ways. One such as how the Potters were and other ways that benefit the government well as a whole."

"Ah, and Slytherin?" Harry asked.

Astoria sighed, but strangely she wasn't the only one.

"They are an ancient but disgraced family. They still withhold their overall power, but due to centuries' worth of misconceptions about Salazar and students in Slytherin, the Slytherin line isn't trusted. While nobody besides us know that the Slytherin line is alive, the Wizengamot decided to still mark the house as a disgrace." Daphne said, barely containing her anger while still letting herself be known.

"It is not so simple as that Daphne, and you know it." Astoria countered.

"Oh, cut the politics, sister! You, father, mother, and I all know that that is the true reason for Slytherin being marked disgraceful!" Daphne retorted.

"Wait! How can Slytherin be disgraced? Wouldn't that anger many students?" Harry interjected again.

"It would have… if they let it known widely beyond the Wizengamot." Daphne sneered. "Also, the school house is separate from the line despite being under the same name." Astoria would at first have seemed to be agreeing with her sister, but through the delivery, her words conflicted Daphne's. This was further shown by the mutual glare still unbroken since it had formed when Daphne entered the conversation.

Harry checked his watch. "I apologize ladies, but I am afraid that I must depart. I need to round up a few allies. Daphne, if you could meet me here after dinner it would be appreciated. I need to know of any allies I could possibly gain in Slytherin." Harry then decided to leave the extremely confused siblings to fulfill his words.

At the top of the final staircase inside the Chamber of Secrets, Harry pulled out his Marauders' Map instead of pushing on the brick wall. After a quick check, he found the three people he needed.

A few minutes later, Harry arrived inside the Greenhouses. After a quick walk, Harry found the Longbottom heir.

"Hey, Neville."

"Oh, hello, Harry. I was just transferring this Fanged Geranium to another pot for Professor Sprout. It's getting a little big for its old one." Neville replied.

"That's good, Neville, but aren't we doing that in a couple weeks?" Harry asked.

"We are, but Professor Sprout said she trusted me enough to handle them and that I should really be handling seventh year plants. Funny thing is that she does let me handle sixth year plants." Neville responded.

Harry chuckled. "You definitely have a way with plants."

"Not that I don't appreciate the company-which I do- but what brings you over here? You're not that fond of herbology from what the Professor tells me." Neville asked.

"I needed to talk to you about something." Harry said, letting his pureblood side emerge ever so slightly.

Neville finished transferring the Geranium before looking curiously up at Harry.

"I've realized that you are one of my only true friends, Neville, and I need you, Seamus, and Dean because of that. You three all stuck by me in the Triwizard Tournament while Ron had a fit and Hermione tried soothing him. They won't change. Ron is a bigoted arse who only looks out for himself, and Hermione only cares about teachers' approval. Sure, she might actually be a good friend, but everyone knows that Ron and her fancy each other even if they don't see it yet. If it comes down between Ron or I, she'll pick Ron." Harry said.

Neville nodded. "So that explains last night."

"Yeah. The only thing is…" Harry drifted off.

"What?" Neville asked, slightly concerned.

"What I'm about to tell you cannot leave this spot, okay? I need you to promise me that."

"All right."

Harry sighed a moment before speaking. "I am actually a direct descendent of Salazar Slytherin. In fact, I am head of the line. I found out a week after we got here at Hogwarts."

The Gryffindor's eye's widened in surprised.

Harry then began telling his story from the library up to the moment he met Neville that day, obviously excluding the Chamber of Secrets or the Greengrasses, but revealing that Harry did have a hidden place to learn and train and that he was being taught by a girl.

"Now that you know who I actually am, how are you going to proceed?" Harry asked.

"I… I…" Neville shook his head as if rearranging his thoughts. "I… am with you. You seem like a nice enough person still. I've always known you to try and do the right thing."

"Neville," Harry said as seriously as if telling the other boy of a close relative's death, "you need to realize that if you stand with me… you stand against almost the entire Wizarding World. Dumbledore. The Ministry. Voldemort. Everyone. It won't be an easy road ahead of us."

Neville absorbed Harry's words fully and gave a quick nod. For a few moments, all that could be heard inside the Greenhouse was the growls of various plants.

"My answer is still the same."

A smile slowly grew on Harry's face. "Good to hear." Harry held out his right hand in offering.

Neville didn't hesitate or even think over anything. He had already made his choice and he would stick by it. Automatically, Neville outreached his own right hand to grasp Lord Slytherin's, and the two shook hands with a firmness and determination in their eyes.

"Meet me in the common room tonight after everyone is asleep. Be prepared to get wet. I'm going to see if I can't convince two others." Harry then turned and began walking out of the Greenhouse, but before crossing through the door, he turned around to say one last thing. "Glad you're with me, Neville. I need someone as strong as you."

Harry then exited the Greenhouses and headed toward the Grand Staircase. Before he reached the moving stone, however, he was quickly pulled from the empty hall into a dark alcove.

"What do you have for me?" Harry asked Daphne calmly, not acting surprised about this odd event. After finding out that he was Salazar's heir, nothing really surprised him anymore. His lessons and training had also helped.

"I need to know what you are doing."

"I already told you."

"Yes, but you failed to mention that you would be recruiting the heir to an Ancient and Noble House renowned for being light." Daphne said through slightly clenched teeth.

"I assure you, Daphne, that I know what I am doing. Neville is one of the best people you will ever meet. I looked into his eyes when he told me his thoughts about joining me even after I told him about my ancestor, and I saw conviction, determination, and faith. He won't betray us." Harry replied.

Daphne sighed and looked around, gaining time to gather her thoughts. "All right. I need to start trusting you, so I will. Next time, though, I would greatly appreciate you telling me who exactly you are recruiting."

"Easy, just follow me." Harry started walking out of the alcove but quickly stopped and threw Daphne something from inside his back pocket. "Here, take my invisibility cloak."

Daphne caught the folded cloth and quickly put it on. "Afraid to be seen with me?" She asked as they started walking down the corridor leading to the Grand Staircase.

"Not afraid, but you said yourself that we need to be careful until we reveal ourselves. Even then, we'll need to be extra careful until everything cools down." Harry replied quietly out from the side of his mouth.

Daphne did not reply and remained silent. A few minutes later, the couple arrived outside the Portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password?" The woman asked.

"Mimbulus mimbletonia." Harry casually replied, not trusting the portrait to share him in a quick or nervous mood.

Harry then pretended to be surprised that his shoe was untied, so he quickly steeped down to do so, allowing Daphen to pass by him and into the Common Room.

"Hurry up, dear. You wouldn't want another house entering our esteemed common room." The Fat Lady said.

"Sorry." Harry apologized, finishing his knot and hurrying into the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Hey, Harry. What you brings you here? Lately, you've been disappearing during the day when we don't have class." Seamus asked, in a good mood despite the suspicious nature of his words. He was sitting across from Dean at the table normally used for chess.

"I needed to talk to you and Dean about something. You mind if we talk in our dorm?" Harry replied, using his peripheral vision to search for Ron instead of letting his eyes move across the room.

"I don't think it'll do much good if you want privacy, Harry." Dean said. "Ron is up there right now, and he's still pissed about you going off last night."

"Yeah, partly what I wanted to talk to you about. Just follow me." Harry then waited for his friends to get up before proceeding out of the Gryffindor Common Room until reaching his spot by the lake where he had first met Daphne in earnest.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Dean asked.

Harry stared at where he knew Daphne was hiding and raised an eyebrow. The two Gryffindors looked at him as if Harry was going insane.

Daphen, though, remained underneath the cloak. Harry just looked back at his two friends, not acknowledging his betrothed.

"You two and Neville are my only real friends in our entire year, and I need you guys more than ever now that Ron and Hermione are gone." Harry began.

"Why did you get rid of them anyway? I mean, don't get me wrong, they are terrible, but why now?" Seamus asked.

"I opened his eyes." Daphne revealed herself, pulling off the cloak and throwing it back to Harry.

"Thanks." Harry said lowly as he shoved the fabric into his back pocket.

Meanwhile, Dean and Seamus had turned to see Daphne, and the two could not have acted any differently.

Dean automatically began to question as to where she came from, why she was here, and how she obtained Harry's cloak while Seamus's eyes and mouth gaped open in surprise and because of his hormones flowing at full blast.

"Back off, Dean. She's with me." Harry soothed.

"You might want to button up your trousers." Daphne advised Seamus as she walked past the Irish teen and to her spot on Harry's right side.

Seamus scrambled to check to see if his fly was down or not. To his relief of not walking around the school with his pants undone and his embarrassment of falling for Daphne's trick, it was not. As soon as Seamus realized this, he looked up accusingly at Daphne. His look, though, was not as impressing with the slight red tinge on his cheeks.

"Boys." Daphne rolled her eyes.

"My eyes were already opening by the way. You did help, but I started it all." Harry ignored the past few seconds.

"Technically, everyone else started it all." Daphne teased.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing with Daphne Greengrass, Harry?" Seamus interjected slightly accusingly but mostly admiringly.

"Well…" Harry began before informing the two Gryffindor teens in front of him of the events that had happened to him so far this school year, excluding the Chamber of Secrets' actual name and location.

"Wow. Did not expect that." Seamus said.

"The reason I just told you all of this is that I am going to and currently need friends that I can trust. The reason I went off on Ron last night was that I've come to realize that he bloody sucks at being one. Dean, I can always trust you to be there, waiting to work together on homework, and Seamus, I can always trust you to make all of us laugh while doing it." Harry continued. As he addressed each one of the two, their minds wandered, reminiscing of the good times they had had together so far. "I could not imagine not having that in my life. Will you guys join and stick by me through thick and thin? We won't have an easy time of it, but change never does come easy. Are you with me?"

Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas shared one look to confirm the other's resolution.

"I'm still with you, Harry." Dean said. Harry nodded. Everyone then looked at Seamus in confusion.

"I only have one condition." Seamus finally spoke.

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I'll join you… if I can snog Daphne for five seconds." Seamus said.

"You have to be fucking kidding me." Daphne deadpanned.

"My words exactly." Harry agreed. "You are kidding, aren't you?" Daphne glared beside him

"Aye! I was! Just having a bit of fun." Seamus replied. "I'll stick by your side."

'Though it would have been nice to score with Greengrass. She is steaming hot!' Seamus thought to himself.

"That's good to hear." Harry said he then outreached his hand first to Dean and then to Seamus to shake their hands.

"Meet me in the Gryffindor Common Room tonight after everyone else goes to sleep. Neville will be joining us." Harry informed before turning to Daphne. "Could we try out that piece of magic you used to depart the first time me met?"

Daphne grinned before hugging Harry close, much to everyone's surprise.

A second later, the world looked the same except ironically dark like a shadow as he and Daphne raced past. Daphne guided Harry back to the Chamber of Secrets' library, where Astoria was absent. There they talked for a bit, readying themselves for the event to occur a few hours later.

At eleven o'clock that night, Neville, Dean, and Seamus were shadow traveled onto the top floor of the Chamber of Secrets one after the other. As soon as Daphne and Seamus arrived, completing the group, Harry and Daphne showed the three Gryffindors around the compound and made sure that the three had memorized the password for getting into the Chamber of Secrets, despite it being only word: open. It was in parseltongue, though.

At midnight, the five empty beds were refilled with their owners.

**AN: Hope everyone liked. Harder chapter for me to write, as I had to develop, think like, and write almost completely new characters as well as deal with a busier schedule for a period of time. Sorry to all who particularly enjoy this story above my others, but even if you do not, others still enjoy them so I must write chapters for them as well, though I do enjoy writing chapters for all three stories. Please express your thoughts about this and/or any other chapter of this story in a review. I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can if you have a question. **_**Occidere Prima Vel Occidi.**_


	5. Recruitment and a New Idea

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, objects, or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling's **_**Harry Potter**_** series.**

**Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.**

"Regular speech or Spell" "Parseltongue (includes spells spoken in it)"Text

'Thought'

The True Heir of SlytherinChapter 5

"So what are your thoughts?" Harry asked the four Hufflepuffs sitting before him. They were in an unused classroom with Harry standing behind the teacher's desk at the front. Ernie Macmillan, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, and Justin Finch-Fletchy. Daphne remained in the shadows in a corner behind the Hufflepuffs so as to remain unseen.

"Are you going to take care of Umbridge?" Justin asked.

Harry thought a moment and nodded, taking care to see how his betrothed reacted. She gave him a nod, though.

Ernie looked at Justin who gave him a reassuring look. "We're in."

Harry nodded and turned to Hannah and Susan.

"Were you responsible for the attacks in second year?" Susan asked, testing him.

"No. Another Parselmouth named Tom Marvolo Riddle was responsible for that. He used to be a student here and locked a part of himself in his diary before he left. Ginny Weasley found it in our second year and was possessed into commanding the basilisk that laid in the Chamber of Secrets until he became real enough to take over himself. I was actually the one to stop him." Harry informatively replied, wanting to answer the least amount of questions as he could.

"I'll stand with you." Susan nodded.

"Hannah?" Harry asked.

"I'm with you." Hannah replied.

Harry nodded his acceptance. "Good. Follow me." Harry rose from his seat and beckoned for the four to do so as well. Daphne remained in the shadows. As Harry walked around the desk, he stuck his hand in the shadow of the table but put it back to his side once his hand reached the end of the shadow. Before his eyes refocused to in front of him, Harry noticed Daphne meld into the shadows. He then proceeded over to the second floor and to the secret staircase, surprising the Hufflepuffs considerably. Harry walked down the stairs to come out into the Chamber of Secrets' main floor.

"May I present the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry smirked, using his arm to indicate the entire complex. "In second year, all below you was absent. Nobody excluding Deus, Salazar's familiar commonly called beast, knew about everything was buried under water. In second year, I entered through what Deus used, not thinking of a human entrance and exit for Salazar himself."

"You mean it's alive?" Justin asked, worried. He was one of the basilisk's petrified victims and rightfully did not wish to be frozen once more.

"Yes, but as I said before, it only attacked due to Riddle." Harry saw his explanation did not completely pacify Justin's worries. "There's no need to be concerned; it can stop its gaze from affecting a person with a third eyelid that is more of a thin film." That seemed to sooth the Hufflepuff.

"Were you careful on your way here?" Daphne asked, surprising four of the five. She had just ascended the staircase to emerge behind the Hufflepuffs.

"Are you really doubting me?" Harry asked, acting as if he was offended. Before grinning, "We were unobserved."

Daphne nodded. "Good."

Harry turned back to the Hufflepuffs. "This is Daphne Greengrass, the one who opened my eyes and my newly betrothed." Harry introduced.

"You are betrothed?" Ernie asked.

"Yes, through a marriage contract made between Salazar and the Greengrasses before he died." Harry replied. "It was activated when I was told about my heritage."

"Why? If he was about to die, why would the Greengrasses agree?" Justin asked.

"The Greengrasses were good friends with the Slytherin family, especially Salazar. He did have a son, but that son was too much at risk as Salazar's son. Because of that, my ancestors have watched him and his line so as to protect them and wait for when a descendant found their heritage. After Harry was disillusioned from his friends, I saw the opportunity to try and reveal his heritage." Daphne replied.

"Now, would you like to have a tour?" Harry asked. They nodded. "All right. Dobby." Harry quietly called.

"Yes, sir?" The elf eagerly asked as soon as he appeared with a pop.

"Would you be so kind as to show my friends around? I have a meeting I need to attend to." Harry replied.

"Dobby would be happy to help master's friends." Hid ears flapped up and down as he nodded his head eagerly.

The former Malfoy house-elf now wore clothes Harry felt were proper for a house-elf of such a powerful family. He wore an almost black green suit with a white shirt and black shoes. Underneath his pants, he wore two socks that differed between each other and day to day. Harry had given Dobby each sock the house-elf wore.

Harry nodded his acceptance. "Thank you. I will see you when I return. Daphne, do you wish to accompany me?" Harry turned back to Daphne once Dobby began escorting the other four.

"In case the Hufflepuffs leave before you return, I think it would be wise to have someone to ensure they know the password." Daphne replied.

"Okay." Harry said before pulling his betrothed close to him. He then whispered something in her ear.

"I'll get it done by the time you return."

"Good. Until we meet again, and hopefully it won't be with me fleeing here." Harry smiled.

Daphne gave a small smile. "Hopefully."

Harry then went back to the stairs so he could attend another meeting inside the classroom he had just visited. When Harry arrived inside, he quickly ensured the privacy charms he had cast were still in place. Once his caution was appeased, Harry hid himself in the shadowed back corner where Daphne had resided earlier. Harry spent the next few minutes working on his Occlumency mindscape as Astoria had instructed last week.

It had been a week and a day since he met the girl, and the day after he met her, Umbridge officially became the High Inquisitor. She had not yet made too many drastic changes such as adding new tyrannical rules, but everyone suspected that it would not be long soon for that to happen. Besides, she already was critiquing even the smallest detail in every teacher.

After ten minutes, however, Harry heard the door open.

"Hello?" A male voice asked as the three Ravenclaws entered.

"He isn't here yet." A female responded as another male closed the door.

"I hate to disprove your theory, Padma, but…" Harry said, coming out of the shadows. Harry used his wand and cast a locking charm at the door. It only locked others out.

"Why did you call us here?" Anthony Goldstein asked curiously.

"I have come to offer an olive branch." Harry said before detailing everything that had happened to him excluding the Order of the Phoenix, Daphne and Astoria's names, the location of the Chamber of Secrets, and the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff allies he had gained. He did, though, say that a family with two children at Hogwarts had been teaching him with one being betrothed to him.

"Now, each of you are true testaments to your house, and I know that you have little if any prejudice. You are too smart for that, and I am one who will become the victim of it." Harry finished.

"What do you need from us?" Anthony asked.

"I need you to stand by me, and in return we will learn magic most never dare to explore. I have come to realize that dark is as necessary as light is, which means that both need to be learned. We'll show everyone a new form of magic where almost all magic is fair game: gray." Harry revealed. "Will you join me on this journey of revelations?"

Anthony automatically walked up to Harry. He had followed every word the teen had spoken. "Lead the way."

Harry nodded and presented his right hand. Anthony shook it firmly.

The Ravenclaw turned towards his housemates. "Everything is going wrong. A new view is just what the world needs."

"I will join you." Padma said before she walked up to Harry, shook his hand, and stood to Harry's right, facing Terry Boot.

The last one to decide had been scrutinizing every detail and thinking over the entire proposition overall. "Where do we begin?"

Harry grinned and shook Terry's hand. "Follow me."

Harry began leading the three through the corridors, observing everything he could. He thought they were not seen, but in one hallway, he was.

'I wonder what I could get for telling Umbridge about this turn of events.' A student thought before waiting for the four to continue around a corner out of sight and proceeding the other way over to the High Inquisitor's office.

A few minutes later, Harry and the three turned Ravenclaws met up with Daphne inside the Chamber of Secrets.

"Daphne Greengrass, you, I presume, are the one who told Harry about him being a Slytherin?" Padma asked.

She nodded. "I was."

"Did you give him the idea of gray?" Terry asked.

"Gray?" Daphne looked at Harry.

While his old self would have quickly crumbled and nervously explained what he had told the Ravenclaws, Harry Slytherin remained calm. "We use dark magic often, but we aren't evil. I think gray describes us the best."

Daphne thought over Harry's words before nodding. She appeared slightly angry. "Thank you for telling three students you barely know while recruiting them before your betrothed, the one who has given you your new look on life."

Now, Harry was nervous. "I'm sorry, Daphne, but it kind of hit me as I was talking. It isn't like I was keeping a secret from you. It just… happened."

Daphne seemed to cool down slightly. "Fine. Keep your revelations, though, to your self until you can speak to me, though."

"What are you, my master? I apologize for not telling you before anyone else, but do not give me extra shite and act like a pompous princess." Harry matched Daphne's level of anger.

"Okay! Calm down now!"

Anthony drew everyone's attention. Two, though, turned their glares toward him. "Both of you are acting like children. I thought both of you were supposed to be leaders? I also thought that you two were supposed to be partners from what Harry said. I guess we were fooled."

Harry and Daphne's anger turned more to shame as Anthony spoke.

"You are correct, Anthony, but believe me when I say you were not fooled." Harry replied.

"I think partners argue from time to time, huh?" Daphne asked, turning to her betrothed.

Harry looked at Daphne and nodded. "All that matters is that we realize our mistake or the other's point and come to an agreement." Harry went out on a line and decided to kiss the Ice Queen.

It was a short and simple one on the lips, lasting only a couple of seconds, but it was much more than that.

At first, Harry was as surprised as Daphne, but both quickly realized they enjoyed the quick joining that left behind a stronger connection.

"I'm sorry." Harry said.

"Me too, so let's move on." Daphne replied genuinely.

"Well I guess we know who is the voice of reason in our group, huh?" Harry smiled, turning to Anthony.

The other teen shrugged. "Just giving what is needed."

"Still. Thank you."

Anthony nodded. "You're welcome."

"So would you like a tour of the compound?" Harry asked before turning to Daphne. "Are the Hufflepuffs still here?"

"No, as soon as the tour was over they left so as to not be seen missing for too long." She replied.

Harry nodded. "Good. Dobby!"

"Yes, master Harry?"

"Could you also give these three a tour of the premises?" Harry asked.

"Yes, sir." Dobby nodded before beckoning for Anthony, Padma, and Terry to follow him.

"We need to talk to the Slytherins." Daphne said.

"Now?" Harry asked. Daphne shook her head.

"Later. We still nee to ensure these three know how to say open in Parseltongue."

Harry nodded and proceeded over to the training room for Harry to get some more practice in. Less than an hour later, Dobby and the other three entered the training room.

"Whoa!" Terry said softly, examining the flaming damage. "When do we learn how to do that?"

"Unless we can figure out how to give you the ability of Parseltongue, you won't." Daphne replied.

Harry turned away from the shards of flaming dummies and walked up to the four.

"What did this?" Anthony asked.

"I'll show you one day." Harry smiled. "So what do you think of the compound?"

"Impressive, but as we don't know or understand Parseltongue, we will not be able to access it." Padma replied.

"Ah, yes. I have a solution for you there. Repeat after me: _Open!_" Harry said.

Each of the three tried, managing to come close but not saying it exactly right.

"Again. _Open!_" Harry repeated.

Anthony managed to speak the word clearly with Padma close behind and Terry doing worse than Padma.

"_Open!" _Harry tried once more.

This time everyone managed to speak the word clearly enough to satisfy Harry and Daphne.

"Good. I suggest you go back to your common room our somewhere in plain view so as not to arouse suspicion. It is bad enough for me to be missing." Harry said.

The three nodded. "When will we see you next?" Padma asked.

"Tomorrow at one you will meet the others, but be warned, we are recruiting from all of the houses. You may meet former enemies, but we are asking you to put that behind you, for now we are our own side and need to stand together." Daphne replied.

"There is one last thing, though, before you go." Harry said, stopping the three. "I hope you realize that you cannot tell anyone about this, nobody at all. If you do, we will prove to you why we are gray and not light."

Anthony, Padma, and Terry all nodded.

"Don't worry. Your secrets are safe with us." Padma replied.

"Good. I friends like you are not common, so you three are treasures." Harry said.

The five then exchanged their good byes before the Ravenclaws left the compound, and Daphne continued to teach Harry.

They didn't stop training until dinner, where Harry sat with his Gryffindor friends and talked quietly, before going up with them to their common room. After the common room was void of any people excluding Harry. He left under his invisibility cloak bound for the dungeons.

After a few minutes of walking, Harry found himself back at the entrance to the Slytherin common room without knowing the password.

Outside, he met Daphne.

"They ready inside?" Harry asked, putting away his cloak.

"Ready as they'll ever be. I told them that Professor Snape wished to meet with them, and every one of them listened." Daphne replied.

"You didn't prepare them?" Harry asked, slightly shocked.

"Why ruin the fun of seeing their appalled faces?" Daphne smirked.

Harry chuckled. "Then let's indulge you." Harry said.

Daphne whispered the password to the wall before leading Harry inside. Harry stayed close behind her so as to see the Slytherins before they saw him.

Every Slytherin in the entire school was sitting in a chair or on a couch or standing around the common room, and Harry knew he would not like their reaction.

"Greengrass, who is that behind you?" Malfoy asked snidely.

"Your heir." Harry replied, stepping beside Daphne.

"Greengrass! Why have you brought him here? He's a Gryffindor and a Half-Blood at that!" Malfoy's words managed to stand apart from the chaotic uproar of his housemates.

"He has already told you. He is the heir of Salazar Slytherin." Daphne replied calmly.

"What are you talking about? He can't be!" A fourth year shouted. Harry had seen the boy around but never caught his name.

"Do you know of any people in this entire school excluding that lousy git of a boy named Ronald who have entered the Chamber of Secrets? Do you know of any Parselmouths in this school? Well, there are two who perfectly fit both questions. Daphne," Harry motioned his right hand towards his betrothed before pointing his index finger at his chest, "and me."

Everyone turned to look at Daphne with wide eyes.

"I have been visiting the Chamber since First Year and knew its location before that." Daphne said.

"You see… Daphne's family has been guarding my line since before Salazar's death thanks to a request made by my ancestor. The deal was for the Greengrasses to watch Salazar's son and his children until one was opportune to come out as the heir. If or when this happened they were supposed to help the heir too their best ability. In exchange, Salazar gifted the Greengrasses with Parseltongue, many of his ancient books of magic, and the betrothal of their eldest unmarried daughter to the descendant who became the heir." Harry explained.

"But… what about the Dark Lord?" Another asked.

"He is a farce. He became obsessed with this house's namesake and eventually became so delusional that he thought he was the true heir. My father has even discovered that he managed to alter his family tree so as to say that he is the heir, though he did do it subtly. The closest he is to the Slytherin line is his ability to speak Parseltongue. That is all. Godric Gryffindor hid the true heir inside a close friend's family, the Potters. My family has been tracking the Slytherin line inside the Potters ever since." Daphne replied.

An odd thought struck Harry. "How did your family know that the Slytherin line was hidden in the Potter family?"

"Each of my family, including my parents, sister, and me, have written or write memoirs for our descendants. In my eight times great-grandfather's, he describes that the Potter family suddenly had a supposed blood relative that was eleventh months old. It is easy to see that the missing child had been placed into their care." Daphne replied.

Harry nodded.

"I still want proof." Draco demanded.

Harry glowered at the supposed prince of Slytherin house and raised his hand at the teen.

"Saevio regulos!" Harry hissed.

Three small translucent basilisks that were glowing black flew out of Harry's right palm and landed on the floor, automatically slithering towards Draco. Draco stood till in shock, his eyes wide in fear. The three pieces of magic jumped at the teen as soon as they got within range but disappeared before hitting Draco.

"There's your proof." Harry turned away from his long-time rival and looked at the rest of his house. "Anyone else wish to challenge me? If so, present yourself and step forward for a duel!"

Harry moved his fierce gaze to each person in the room besides Daphne, daring them to come forward. After Harry looked away from the last student, Harry visibly calmed down, dispensing the fierce glare.

"Now that that is settled, I expect all of you to stand with me because I am not the Golden Boy anymore. He is now merely a disguise I use to conceal myself from the Ministry and Dumbledore." Harry spat the headmaster's name to gain more favor amongst the students before him. "So what say you?"

A cheer erupted from all of the Slytherins in the room excluding Draco, who like everyone else, raised his right fist into the air.

"Good… because our time will come when we can show this school and more importantly, the world, that we are a force to be reckoned with!" Harry grew louder until he was yelling out his last words.

All of the Slytherins were uncharacteristically cheering and whooping out for their leader.

Harry slowly silenced their cheers by lowering his open palms from chest height. "While all of you as a part of this house will prove useful, I will need a specific few to lead you as our forces will not just contain Slytherins."

"What do you mean 'not just contain Slytherins'? We can barely trust ourselves let alone outsiders thanks to their viewpoint on us." Pansy Parkinson spoke out.

Harry glared viciously at the teenaged girl and sent a strong stinging hex at her. "As a part of my house, I expect better of you than to ask questions so much like a Gryffindor would! Honor your title as a member of Slytherin house!"

Pansy nodded.

Harry was satisfied with her response and turned back to his newest followers. "For those who are curious, I have recruited quite capable students from each house at this school. All of you will respect each and every one of them, understand?" Harry received a very quick nod from everyone in the room. Harry would have smiled at the effect of using one as a demonstration could have on a group if not for the pretenses he had to obtain. "Good. If you wish to volunteer yourself for a commanding role amongst your ranks, write it down on this list Daphne has so kindly provided for you. I will come back in two nights time to collect the list and will call each person on it for a meeting at different times." Daphne floated the said list and a quill and ink onto a nearby table.

"Is there anything I am forgetting, Daphne?" Harry asked.

"No, Harry. You covered all of the points we discussed earlier."

"All right. I will then see you in the morning, my betrothed." Harry said before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Harry could barely distinguish an ever so slight blush on Daphne's cheeks. He was the only one.

"Good night, Harry. Sleep well."

"Hopefully, you will do the same." Harry smiled before turning and walking out of the Slytherin Common Room. He then donned his invisibility cloak and proceeded back up to his dormitory and bed.

He was interrupted, however, by Peeves.

"Ah, a student out of bed. Wait until Dumbledore hears about this!"

"Silence, poltergeist!" Harry commanded. "Your pranks are ill contrived and could be performed by a child. I, however, could be quite… inventive if I so wished to punish you. You will leave me to my own devices and never speak of this, understood, Peeves?"

"Uh, yes, sir! It's already gone from my mind! Have a good night!" Peeves hurried off down a corridor to escape Harry, never even questioning who he was.

Harry chuckled quietly to himself. 'I guess he isn't so bad if you know how to handle him. I mean, honestly, how could I hurt him? He's a bloody ghost!' After the teen had his laugh, Harry proceeded back up to Gryffindor tower uninterrupted.

**AN: Sorry for the long wait, but my muse could not find me easily for this chapter. I struggled to put down a hundred words at a time, which can be a small fraction when compared to when I get into my writing zone. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it, despite its more factual nature, and that you will, like always, leave a review as it really does improve the story. **_**Occidere Prima Vel Occidi.**_


	6. Lord Slytherin

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, objects, or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling's **_**Harry Potter**_** series.**

**Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.**

"Regular speech or Spell" "Parseltongue (includes spells spoken in it)"Text

'Thought'

The True Heir of SlytherinChapter 6

Two days after Harry Potter, Lord Slytherin, brought his ancestor's house under his control, he felt a new power inside him. Due to his long imprisonment and time spent at his false home called Gryffindor House, some of the characteristics of the house lingered on him, especially the attribute of poor strategy, though, he did not fall back completely to his old, pressed ways.

Harry had been sitting in Defense Against the Dark Arts or Theory Against the Dark Arts, as Harry had taken to calling it, when Umbridge had noticed his lack of focus on the material.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, there is." Harry replied.

Umbridge put on a bigger smile. "What do you need help with?"

"I just would like to know when they are going to bring in the real DADA teacher to replace this joke of a curriculum." Harry answered, faking genuineness.

"I'll have you know-"

"Yes, all of us know already! This curriculum is according completely to Ministry guidelines, but this," Harry paused to pick up his book and let it drop back to his desk, "is going to kill probably everyone here, even the ones from respected families." Harry grinned in his mind. He struck her where the knife sunk deep. He knew that while Umbridge despised children, she supported pureblood ideals furiously.

"I will hear no more of this, Mr. Potter!" Umbridge said louder than normal. "Detention, my office at six. I believe you know the way."

"I do." Harry replied, not giving the woman the satisfaction of hearing her name in a way mostly used for people that were respected.

A few hours later, Harry left the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Mr. Potter, you know the drill."

Harry barely managed to withhold his anger but still picked up the blood quill to write the lines written down on the board behind Umbridge's desk. This time, though, the lines were different.

The snake among the lions paused with the quill suspended above the sheet of paper. "What was it I was to write again, miss Umbridge?"

A flash of annoyance crossed the woman's face but was quickly covered by the usual façade. "You are to write: 'I will respect my superiors' until the lines settle in." Despite her recovery, she did add an extra sickly sweet tone of condescension to her reply.

Harry decided to continue with his fun and put on a look of confusion. "But professor… why do I have to put down that you will respect your superiors? I thought you did already?"

As before, she replied with an awful smile on her face, but this time she somehow made it even more condescending. "Unlike you, Mr. Potter, I do respect others' authority and hold it in high regard. You, on the other hand, continue to be a glory hound seeking further trouble with anyone you can. Now, please get to writing. I know you wouldn't want to dawdle any longer than you want from your next scheme."

Harry remained silent and began to write with the blood quill as instructed. Slowly, Umbridge settled down in her chair with a smile of satisfaction on her face.

As well as troubling her during class and before his writing, Harry decided to annoy the poor excuse for a being. As usual, Umbridge would look up to examine Harry and take some self-satisfaction at seeing the teen in pain, but Harry decided to snatch away her pleasure and remained stoic as he etched the words further into his skin until he knew that they were deep enough for her liking.

Harry packed the parchment away and stood up from his seat.

"Ah, done are we?" Umbridge asked with her usual smile back on her face. "Come here so I may ensure that it is deep enough."

Harry nodded and carried his things up to the front with him before holding out his right hand.

"What is this?" Umbridge demanded.

"The lines you told me to write; just as you told me." Harry replied with a hidden smile.

Etched on his hand was the line: "Umbridge will respect her superiors."

"I believe that I am done for the night, right professor?" Harry asked in an innocent voice, mocking the woman before him.

"Yes, you are, Mr. Potter, but I am going to need you back for every night for the next week." Umbridge replied. "Maybe then, you could get the lines right."

"I will see you tomorrow then, professor." Harry replied nonchalantly before exiting the classroom and heading up to his dorm, where he dropped his things before proceeding down to the Great Hall for dinner.

"Finally decided to come back to me, huh?" Ron asked. "Well, forget it! I don't need you!" Ron replied to what he thought Harry would say childishly.

Harry scoffed. "Sure, Ron. If that helps you sleep at night, keep telling yourself that. I wouldn't want you to be even dumber than usual."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I misspoke. I should have used the words 'more arrogant' rather than 'dumber." Harry replied.

"I don't know what has gotten in to you, Harry, but you are being incredibly rude to everyone." Hermione finally spoke up.

"Really?" Harry more stated contemplatively than asked. "Everyone? Hermione, I think you are mistaken. I don't have a problem with everyone; I just have a problem with everyone who has a problem with me, people who have created problems involving me, and those who side with the former two." Harry said politely. "Unfortunately for the both of you, I have decided to start avoiding the people in those three categories. I thought you would have seen that Hermione as you are supposed to be the smartest witch of our age."

"You have become a real git, you know that?" Ron huffed as he stood up. "Come on, Hermione. Let's get away from this arse."

"I cannot believe how you are acting. I thought you were better than this." Hermione left her words hanging in the air purposefully to make Harry feel guilty. Half-expecting Harry to call back for her, she picked up her stuff and left.

Harry, though, remained where he was and felt unashamed of anything because of her words. Although he knew that his words were harsh, they were still the truth, and Harry already kept too many secrets.

"Damn, they don't know when to back off." Seamus said.

"No, they won't… Not until they learn the truth, and then their hatred will turn into a different kind. They may think I'm just being a git, but the truth to them will be worse." Harry replied in a low whisper. Harry cast his eyes around the Great Hall, looking for nothing or no one in particular. "That'll be when we're really seen as the enemy."

"Oh, come on, mate; let's relax instead of this heavy stuff!" Seamus laughed, clapping a hand on Harry's back.

"I guess you're right." Harry smiled back.

"Of course I am! If there are two things I know they're when and how to party and women. I am the party king!" Seamus replied.

"How many parties has he actually hosted?" Harry asked Dean and Neville.

"In his mind or in reality?" Dean asked.

"Because those are two _very _different answers." Neville added.

"Oh, shut it." Seamus replied before turning back to Harry. "Pay them no mind. I'm still the only one who has hosted even one party."

"He does have you beat there." Harry told Neville and Dean.

"Whose side are you on?" Dean asked.

"No one's."

"Knew you were going to say that." Neville sighed.

The four continued to talk about normal topics, joking with each other as teens their age usually did. Though they couldn't escape their choices, the four still needed to escape their harsh world on occasion.

After dinner, they made their way back up to their common room before heading into their dorm, not wishing to handle Ron and Hermione or any others. There they continued talking until Ron came up for the night.

The next day was a Saturday and at noon the four Gryffindor fifth years were residing in their dormitory.

Harry glanced at the clock on the wall and then at each of his three friends before giving a simple nod. Neville, Seamus, and Dean nodded, quickly walked over to their beds, and closed the curtains, leaving piles of clothes at the foots of their beds. The four then proceeded downstairs until they were peeking out into the common room. After a quick scan, they saw that nobody was left in the room, descended the stairs, and crossed the room as quick but silently as they could. Dean looked behind them for anyone as Harry opened the door hidden behind the portrait of the fat lady. After Harry stuck his head out around both corners of the portal, he led the others out and down the stairs until they reached the second floor, cautiously moving the entire way.

The four finally arrived outside the covered entrance to the Chamber of Secrets while most of the school was studying, eating, or hanging around another part of the castle. With a glance down each side of the corridor, Harry whispered out in parseltongue the password.

The other three slipped past Harry and descended the staircase. Harry cast a final glance around his surroundings before following his three Gryffindor friends.

"Milord." A large group of voices said as Harry emerged out from the staircase and its final step. The Slytherins as well as Harry's other supporters bowed from their own smaller group nearby the Slytherins. Two, though, remained standing as they were.

"Harry." Astoria greeted formally with her sister not far behind.

"Hello." Daphne smiled.

"Hi." Harry smiled back before addressing the mass of followers behind her and her sister. "Thank you for that gracious entrance. It is wonderful that you have accepted the truth and that none of you performed acts against it between the time the truth was told and now."

Everyone bowed once more.

"Now, I believe I left those of you who were put in Slytherin house by the Sorting Hat with a list. Daphne?" Harry turned to his betrothed with his question.

"It seems that we had more than a few volunteers."

The piece of now rolled parchment unraveled flatly to show two other pieces of parchment attached to the first; every sheet was completely filled with names that, while crammed, were still organized in two columns descending down.

"My, it seems my ancestor's house does still contain ones who are worthy of bearing the title of a Slytherin." Harry commented, making every Slytherin stand straighter than before. "All those who wrote your names down, please step forward." Harry ordered.

The Slytherins obliged with most of them stepping apart from their housemates.

"Astoria, I will leave you to interview each of them. Those you find unworthy for a position of power in our ranks, please send back to Daphne, who will be in the training room. It wouldn't do for any of our followers to be weak in dueling." Harry said to the youngest Greengrass before turning to his betrothed.

"Where do I send those that have potential?" Astoria asked.

Harry turned back to her. "Deus's chamber. I have an idea that I need to elaborate on with the king of serpents." Harry turned back to Daphne and grinned. "Test them."

"I take it that you don't want me to go easy on them?"

Harry just widened his grin, making Daphne put a similar one on her face. "I'll give them hell."

"Just what I wanted to hear." Harry then lowered his voice so that only Daphne could hear his next words. "Make sure to send anyone you think has potential for a leadership role to me as well. If I like them, I'll send them back to Astoria for final checking."

Daphne nodded. "Okay." Daphne then raised her voice so that the others could hear her. "You heard him! Follow my sister or me!" Daphne then turned and departed down the stairs, never turning to check if her group was obeying. Astoria, though, had walked up to her group before escorting them.

"How two sisters could be so different I will never understand." Harry shook his head before walking up to the enormous statue of his ancestor.

"_Open for your heir!" _Harry commanded.

Salazar's mouth opened wide like it had in second year, but this time, a long section of the top of his chest and his neck swung as if on a hinge from directly below the now-open mouth to form a bridge leading to the tunnel hidden inside Salazar's head.

As soon as the marble bridge stopped in its arc to rest at his feet, Harry walked forward and into the mouth, the marble bridge swinging back to complete the statue once more. As soon as Harry was completely clear of the entrance to the mouth, it closed, and torches on the sides of the tunnel lit up to push back the dark to the shadows.

The tunnel was slightly wider than Deus to accommodate the torches and was much longer than the deadly serpent. Despite its interesting location inside a statue's head, the tunnel was otherwise bland, only continuing on a slight decline.

After a minute of walking, however, Harry finally emerged out into a large rock cave.

The underground chamber held much more details of note than the tunnel but by no means was extravagant with only necessities installed. There must have been a small crack at the top of one of the sides of the place, as a waterfall of lake water was pouring in, but Salazar must have prevented any problems by using magic to keep the crack to a manageable size and to allow the water to drain out of the cave after pooling in a circle large enough to accommodate Deus. As well as the water, there was another tunnel on the other side of the cave that led upward and into the Dark Forest to keep Deus well fed. The only other feature of the chamber was a mound of bones, leaves, and felled trees close to the pool below the waterfall where the king of serpents himself was lying.

"_Harry. What brings you to my home? I would have acted on a call from you, approaching soon." _Deus said.

"_I know you would have, Deus, but we have company that cannot hear what I am about to share with you… for now." _Harry replied.

"_Company? Never have there been any but those who speak the language of snakes in these chambers." _Deus told Harry as if he did not know.

"_Things are changing, king. We will need an army to survive if we are to reveal ourselves. I would think you above us all would wish for us to finally be recognized, and I believe your former familiar and my ancestor would not have wanted you and his legacy to be kept to the shadows until death." _Harry replied.

Deus remained silent for a moment. _"You are right, Harry. Salazar would never have wished for me to be kept here for eternity with the rest of his discoveries."_

Harry smiled. _"I am glad to see you understand, but I have come for another purpose than to just inform you of the upcoming war we may start, though it is involved."_

Deus tilted his head curiously.

A short while after talking with the ancient snake, Harry felt a few presences at the top floor of the Chamber of Secrets outside the statue.

"_I apologize, my friend, but I must return to my followers. I believe I may have a few leaders outside Salazar's statue. Until we meet once more." _Harry said before slightly bowing his head with Deus mimicking his action.

"_Fare thee well."_

Harry then turned around and departed back through the tunnel form where he entered the Basilisk's Den.

A minute later, Salazar's jaw opened and the bridge swung up once more to accommodate the his heir. Harry quickly strode onto and off the bridge to allow the statue to return to its normal shape for the final time that night.

While the statue's mouth had closed, the group of Slytherin students' mouths had not.

Harry walked up to the group and waited for them to finally speak. After a few moments, however, of continued silence, Harry cleared his throat.

"Remember what house you are in." Harry said warningly.

The group snapped to attention and quickly apologized.

"Your names?" Harry asked after they were done apologizing.

"Terence Higgs."

"Adrian Pucey."

"Charles Vaisey."

"Blaise Zabini."

"Tracey Davis."

"Flora Carrow."

"Pansy Parkinson." The girl bowed as deeply as she could for forgiveness for her past acts against Harry.

Harry merely nodded his head toward her to slightly stop her guilt. A motion of the head was no substitute for a conversation when it came to forgiveness. Harry then turned toward the last person in the assembly.

"I assume you have a name." Harry said to Draco.

"Of course; you know who I am." Draco replied.

"I actually do not. I remember a ponce who closely resembles you, but you could not be that git. After all, that teen would never dare show his face in a proud way anywhere amongst my ranks." Harry said.

Draco looked down in downcast. He might sometimes be thick, but he understood what Harry was saying. "Change and be careful or else" was the meaning of Harry's deceptive words.

"My name is Draco Malfoy, Lord Slytherin."

"Ah, very good." Harry smiled. "Now, please inform me whether you volunteered or not."

"I did not." Higgs.

"I did." Pucey.

"Did not." Vaisey.

"Did." Zabini.

"Did not." Davis.

"Did." Carrow.

"Did." Parkinson.

"I did volunteer for this position." Malfoy.

"Good to know." Harry nodded. "Now, I am going to need those of you to schedule a time to meet with me with the Greengrass sister that did not direct you here. If you prove satisfactory to them, a meeting will be arranged for each of those who've passed for a final selection of worthy lieutenants."

"Why did we then have to meet with you now?" Pucey asked.

Harry glared at the older teen. "Rejoin the others in the training room, now."

"Why, sir?"

"Have I not made it clear that while I do appreciate questions to my plans, I will not tolerate stupidity as a quality in my leaders… or assumptions of glory. You will earn respect instead of inherit or buy it in my ranks. Now, go to the training room." Harry ordered.

"Yes, milord." Adrian bowed and quickly hurried off to join the others.

Harry turned to look at the others. "It appears you are in luck. You have one less person to compete with. Now, you know where you are needed." Astoria and Daphne had given the people who passed their tests directions to Harry's location and to the other sister.

"Milord." The group bowed before separating and heading off.

"Hmm." Harry hummed in thought. "Dobby!"

"Yes, master Harry Potter sir?" The elf asked after appearing with a "pop."

"Please bring me my black robes." Harry said kindly.

"Yes, sir." Dobby popped away again and reappeared a few seconds later with the garments floating beside him. "Sir."

"Thank you, Dobby. Just wait a moment please." Harry used a spell Daphne had taught him to switch his school robes with a set of completely raven black ones. Harry brought the hood over his face to cover his scar and barely reveal his eyes. "Now, please bring me to the front of Gringotts, Dobby. I have an appointment that would be unwise to be missed."

Dobby nodded eagerly and took Harry's arm before popping them both away.

As instructed, Dobby brought Harry straight in front of the marble bank. If the guards at the doors were alarmed at their presence, no witch or wizard were the wiser, but several witches and wizards stopped to look at this newcomer. One glare from him targeted at nobody in particular, though, halted all of their stares.

Harry gave a nod to Dobby, telling him to leave until called again.

After the elf had popped away, Harry ascended the marble steps and entered the wizarding bank. Once inside, he walked over to the first available teller, who happened to be the fourth one on his left.

He waited until the goblin was finished with writing down his business on the piece of parchment on his raised desk before finally speaking.

"I have an appointment at twelve-thirty with Sharpclaw. Could you please direct me to where his office or meeting room is, please?" Harry asked politely while maintaining a prideful voice. He still needed to show that he held power, at least to any eavesdroppers.

"Right this way." The goblin said before stepping down from the desk and opening a small panel that acted as a door for wizards when they needed to go beyond the lobby. Magical wards prevented anyone or anything that was not welcomed by a goblin opening the door from going beyond this checkpoint of sorts.

Harry followed the goblin into the depths of Gringotts, navigating the maze of hallways known as a layout. Finally, the goblin stopped Harry outside a wooden door marked with a golden plague that read: "The Clientele Offices of Sharpclaw, Senior Manager of High Value Accounts."

The golden rapped quickly on the door, receiving a "come in" form inside.

"Your twelve-thirty is here, Sharpclaw." The goblin announced, opening the door only wide enough for him.

"Thank you. Let him in, please, and then you can go back to your normal duties at the lobby."

"Yes, Sharpclaw." The first goblin replied before bowing out of the doorway. "You may enter."

Harry nodded his thanks and entered the office, the goblin closing the door behind him.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, it is good to finally meet you in person after the several letters we have exchanged over the past few days. Now, I remember you wished to bring up the secret contract that Gringotts has been holding for the Slytherin family as well as the special testing to pass the secret barriers Salazar established on his line to hide them further." Sharpclaw said.

"What secret barriers?" Harry asked, genuinely curious.

"Around the time, I would say, the contract between the Slytherins and the Greengrasses was made Salazar also implemented a spell he had been researching since he discovered the fact that he would have a child, an heir. The spell would ensure that, despite the fact that even those who already knew him as the heir, a normal blood test would not reveal the child's lineage. Salazar ensured that Gringotts had classified records that informed Gringotts that only a special blood test would ensure the discovery of the child's and that child's descendants' lineage."

"Even when turning insane, he was clever and deceptive enough to pull off multiple tricks on people that have lasted even to this day." Harry mused.

Sharpclaw nodded. "Now, shall we begin?"

Harry simply nodded.

The goblin removed form his desk an orb that appeared to be made of glass with swirling colors inside twisting amongst each other like slithering snakes inside their den. "Put your hands on this please."

Harry followed the goblins instructions.

"Now, this may hurt."

Right after the last syllable had left the goblin's lips, a sharp, stabbing pain pierced Harry's palms and the bottoms of his fingers; everywhere his body touched the orb Harry felt pain.

After fifteen seconds, the pain started to fade away, and Harry noticed that the colors inside the orb were spinning around violently and at a quicker pace than before. The colors, though, were just starting to pick up speed.

"Take your hands away." Sharpclaw instructed quickly.

The goblin then removed a piece of parchment from a drawer in his desk and placed it on the top of the mystical orb. The colors were now spinning even faster than before, and then suddenly, the colors halted all at once in the perfect center of the orb in a small sphere before they launched together as a beam of light into the parchment.

Quickly, words made of ink filled the top of the paper, and, once finished, the beam of light dispersed back into the swirling colors like how Harry had first seen it.

Sharpclaw removed the parchment from the top of the orb and sat it, facedown on the desk but left the orb where it was. "Would you like to have the same safeguard implemented for any future children you might have?"

Harry thought a moment. "I would have to first discuss it with my betrothed. Besides, we still need to know whether I am Salazar's heir or not."

"Mr. Potter, this is more for a purpose of identification and to unlock your vaults and estates than to determine if you are his heir or not. We received a flare of magic in the Slytherin vault around when you say you proved your blood status to that basilisk you mentioned in your letters." Sharpclaw replied.

"Ah. So, does it say who I am?"

Sharpclaw turned the paper over and read from it for a few seconds, skimming it for meaning.

"Yes, Harry James Slytherin Potter." Sharpclaw smiled.

"Good to have that out of the way. So I can officially claim my lordships, accounts, and estates?"

"Yes. Would you like to peruse your holdings, however, before claiming your titles?" Sharpclaw asked in turn.

"Yes, besides, I would like to not claim the Potter mantle as of yet due to the secrecy needed. People will be hoping for when I attain that position, so it will probably be watched while the Slytherin line will most likely go unnoticed. However, I do wish to also keep the attainment of the Slytherin line, especially the fact that I am its lord or even a part of the line. I am proud of my ancestry, but caution is needed in this day and age where people are always so quick to judge Slytherins and those who are different from everyone else."

"Yes, that is very true. I will have the necessary papers brought here while you look over your holdings." Sharpclaw replied. Before anything else could be said, the goblin pressed a ward on his desk, which Harry guessed was calling for the papers.

"May I?" Harry asked pointing his hand towards the parchment Sharpclaw had set down.

"Of course."

Harry nodded his head in thanks, picked up the parchment, and began to read.

_**Harry James Slytherin Potter**_

_Accounts: __Vaults 27 and 32 under the house of Slytherin_

_Vaults: 46 and 687 under the house of Potter_

_Estates: __One quarter of Hogwarts Castle and Slytherin Castle_

_Potter Manor and several small businesses (see Potter investments for the companies)_

"Why is there no monetary amounts labeled for my accounts?" Harry asked curiously.

"You will be mailed continual updates of their statuses, but for security purposes you cannot view them from this sheet." Sharpclaw replied.

"Ah." Harry said.

Before anything else could be said, however, another goblin entered the office with a few pages of parchment in a stack in his hands. He also held a small, black, square, wooden box.

"Here you go, sir." The new goblin said to Sharpclaw as he set the stack and the box on the desk.

"Thank you, Griphook. That will be all." The older goblin replied.

Griphook bowed out of the office and closed the door.

Harry turned back to Sharpclaw after watching Griphook while he was in the office. "Is there any dues I must pay for the undertaking of Slytherin house, or am I free to sign?"

"Excluding the betrothal contract that you already have to fulfill, the emancipation papers you need to sign, and the fee for my services that will automatically be drawn out of the Slytherin accounts, there are no other impediments in your way of obtaining the title of Lord Slytherin." Sharpclaw replied.

"Thank you. Where do I sign?" Harry asked.

"The first half of this stack consists of the emancipation papers and will cover the secrecy for it as well. The latter half confirms that you are a part of the Slytherin line and cover your obtainment of the lordship of the house as well as the secrecy to hide that half of the stack. Underneath each line, it will describe if a signature, initials, or a full, printed name is needed." Sharpclaw replied.

"Thank you." Harry said as he picked up the quill and read through the entire stack of papers to ensure the goblin had not lied so far.

Sharpclaw sat back in his leather chair and relaxed while Harry did so. He knew exactly what Harry was ensuring but was not offended by any means despite the fact that he hadn't done anything to cheat Harry. If anything, he was impressed with the teen's level of maturity and care that most lords he had met still didn't possess. Sharpclaw always thought it foolish to have that level of trust in a contract. He could merely say a simple lie and put anything in a contract, thus then own a fortune or have an indentured worker for life. Wizards could be so stupid.

While Sharpclaw had mused over his dealings with wizards, Harry had finished reading the contracts and was just writing the last signature needed at the bottom of the last piece of aged parchment.

"There you go, Senior Manager." Harry said, passing the papers over.

After Sharpclaw ensured that Harry had filled in every blank, he said, "Thank you. It appears everything is now in order." The goblin then motioned for Harry to take the wooden box on his desk. "You may now take your ring and your title will be finalized, Lord Slytherin."

"Thank you, Sharpclaw." Harry said as he took the ring box into his hands and opened it on its hinge.

Inside, a midnight black, silk pillow filled the bottom of the box with a ring sitting perfectly on top.

The ring itself was simple but clearly emanated magical energy and power from the emerald stone centered at the rings front. It had a solid platinum band that slightly leaned outward to accompany and line the emerald stone adorned with a basilisk coiled up but standing at the center of a green background the shape of a shield, platinum surrounding that, and platinum decorations surrounding the entire design, the Slytherin line's crest.

Harry picked up the ring with his left hand, circling the band with all of his fingers. Harry inspected the ring again before slipping the ring on his right ring finger, the finger where all lordship rings were meant to reside.

As soon as Harry's left hand fell away from the ring, he felt a surge of power and a flood of knowledge absorbed him. He now knew the contents of his vaults, the locations of all Slytherin properties, even the ones not listed in the Gringotts report, and most importantly, he received some knowledge from the last wearer of the ring now on Harry's right ring finger, Salazar Slytherin.

"Thank you for this Sharpclaw; is there any other business to be taken care of at the moment?" Harry asked after regaining his breath. He hadn't even realized he had released it.

"That is all for now. I will send all business reports and such to you as we did before we met if that suits you." Sharpclaw replied.

"That would be perfect, Sharpclaw." Harry said as he stood up. "Thank you again for this."

"You are very welcome, Lord Slytherin." Sharpclaw nodded his head. "Until we meet again."

"Until then, Senior Manager. Until then."

A few minutes later, Harry reappeared back at the top of the Chamber of Secrets.

Daphne stood right in front of him, somehow knowing where he would reappear.

"Has everyone left?" Harry asked as he walked up to Daphne.

"We managed to finish everything, yes."

"Good. When will I be meeting the potentials again?" Harry asked.

"Next week at the same time and place." Daphne replied as she turned and started walking towards the exit with Harry quickly catching up to her so they walked side by side.

"That will definitely work." Harry replied.

"Were you spotted, and did everything go as planned?" Daphne asked as they mounted the staircase.

Harry stopped and turned to her. "No." He then held up his right hand to show his ring.

"And yes."

**AN: Sorry for the long wait, but I have been working on a trailer for the last chapter of **_**The Grey Assassins**_** (still need to add audio but need to use a process to get music from iTunes for those who are curious). I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you have any comments, please give them to me in a review. They are helpful even if they are as simple as "good job" or something of the like despite what some may think. **_**Occidere Prima Vel Occidi.**_


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